近世東亞儒學史上，日本的古學和中國的氣學俱有明顯的特色，它們面對同樣的問題，這兩派共同的論敵是理學的天道性命之說。它們擁有共同的文化遺產，這樣共通的問題意識與內在資源使得它們提出來的解決方案竟然也頗多相似之處。本文將探討古學與氣學儒者因為訴諸不同的先秦儒家經典，所以他們的思想雖然同樣在古學－氣學的大脈絡下定位，他們也有一些共同的主張，我們仍可從中區分出兩種不同的類型。第一種以伊藤仁齋及戴東原為代表，他們主張回歸哲學突破時期形成的經典《論》、《孟》，他們提出的思想是種「間主體性」的道德觀與存在論。第二種是以顏元及荻生徂徠為代表，他們主張回歸中華文明發軔期形成的六經，六經代表的是皇極的傳統，他們認為人的本質在於他們自身存在之外的社會規範－禮。

　　　　　In the recent history of East Asian Confucianism, the Japanese Kogakuha and the Chinese School of Ch’I have run parallel in many instances. For example, both shared the same cultural legacy (i.e., the Confucian classics of the pre-Chin Period), both confronted the Chen-Chu school’s metaphysics and the theory of human nature, and both held some common assertions. Each also split into two subschools. The first subscahool, represented by Ito Jinsai and Tai Chen, brought forward the ontology and morality of intersub-jectiveity by clinging to the Analects and the Mencisu, which were formed in the philosophical breakthrough period. The second subschool, represented by Ogyu Sorai and Yen Yuan, asserted that the essence of human beings exists not in themselves but in the social norms li (禮). These scholars held on to Six Classics, which documented early Chinese civilization and stood for the tradition of the Great Center or the Supreme Ultimate (Huang Chi, 皇極). For the latter subschool, ethical problems were the same as social politics. “Analects and Mencius” versus “Six Classics” thus distinguished two kinds of hermeneutical movements of returning to the original Confucian texts.